10 Lessons From a Gay Cruise Virgin

You can sleep when it's over. Here's the skinny on how to enjoy your first gay cruise.

BY Cyd Zeigler

February 20 2013 5:30 AM ET

5.Everyone Wants To Say "Hi"One of the things I love about Provincetown is that people check their attitude on the ferry and step onto Commercial Street with smiles. The cruise was no different. When I said “hello” to people in the hallway they actually – gasp – said “hello” back! We met some wonderful guys from Germany to Australia, Philadelphia to San Diego and everywhere in between. All you have to do is smile, introduce yourself and shake hands. Just keep hitting the Purell stations that are (smartly) more prevalent than used condoms on the dick deck.

6. Don’t Shy Away From The Fine DiningEat. For all that is good and holy, eat! We went to just about every dance party, and we may have had our shirts off approximately 92% of the time, but we ate; With all that dancing, we needed the energy.

The food in the main dining rooms was a big disappointment, but we found the lamb and saltimbocca at one of the ship’s fine-dining restaurants (Portofino) early on. Plus, after dancing for four hours, a couple slices of pepperoni pizza hit the spot. And I dare say, the vast majority of it didn’t show up until just as we were stepping off the ship back in Ft. Lauderdale.

7. Ports Of Call Were A Nice Change of PaceFor me the highlights of leaving the ship were sinking into the local culture of the islands. We talked with locals in St. Maarten (which left a lot to be desired) and tracked down a local dive restaurant in St. Kitts (which was beautiful). We experienced some good snorkeling, following an octopus in St. Kitts and some adorable box fish in Labadee. We didn’t partake in any of the ship’s excursion packages – and we had a great time.